Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: China's Dollar Trap (nytimes.com)
China now owns so many dollars that it can't sell them off without driving the dollar down and triggering the very capital loss its leaders fear.
JOEL STEIN: Free stuff, and us (latimes.com)
Can today's ad-driven and ad-supported business model last?
Ted Rall: AFGHAN DEATH TRIP
Broke and on a Losing Streak, Obama Doubles Down.
Mark Morford: Pope, extra ribbed (sfgate.com)
Benedict says condoms make AIDS worse. God recoils in shame.
JAMES RAINEY: Free speech, celebrities and ugly truths (latimes.com)
British courts' plaintiff-friendly libel system strikes at U.S. protections.
A Foolish Journey
Search for "A Foolish Journey," then begin looking at the photographs.
Allison Ford: The Stunning Consequences of Not Getting Enough Sleep (Divine Caroline; Posted on AlterNet.org)
Many people don't get as much sleep as they should. And their brains are paying the price.
John Timpane: Author rooted in two continents, inspired by an African woman (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
It started with a woman chasing a chicken in her yard. The setting was a little village in Botswana.
Dan Sabbagh: Billy Bragg accuses Google of cheapening music in video royalties row (timesonline.co.uk)
The musicians Billy Bragg and Robin Gibb have joined forces with the record producer Pete Waterman, accusing Google of devaluing songwriters amid a row over royalties.
Eric Benderoff: Radio offers 1,000 songs for $100, but it has limitations (Chicago Tribune)
In a product category dominated by Apple Inc., the portable music players by memory card-maker SanDisk Corp. are often overlooked.
20 Questions: Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears (popmatters.com)
Q: What do you want to say to the leader of your country?
A: We need that bailout dawg, and I mean a real one, hurry up.
Tom Service: Why we are shutting children out of classical music (guardian.co.uk)
An entire generation has grown up alienated from classical music. How has Britain allowed this to happen? And can the damage be undone?
The Weekly Poll
The next Poll will be April 7th - BadToTheBoneBob's 'out state' on vacation.
On the old TV series 'The Monkees', the boys cruised around in
the Monkee Mobile, which was a modified 1967 insert brand name here
On the old TV series 'The Addams Family', what was Morticia's maiden name?
Mt. Redoubt
Olla Marty!
Awesome HUUUUUGE Picture of Mt. Redoubt
...Mountain is building a lava dome , meaning it's getting ready to get down to some SERIOUS volcano type business...no more of the piddlin dribblin stuffs it's been doing.
See-Ya when the ash falls!!!
Vic in AK
Thanks, Vic!
Reader Suggestion
'Some Guy'
maybe the "buck" really does stop here
TV Alert
"The Office"
Our old pal, Willow, taught in Honesdale, PA, for a long time.
The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce arrranged for Honedale High to Fed Ex softball uniforms and other items to the production company in Los Angeles
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Marine layer burned off around noon.
Getting Star #2,382
George Harrison
The Beatles' George Harrison is getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
EMI Music spokeswoman Jennifer Ballantyne says Harrison's star will be unveiled April 14 in front of Hollywood's Capitol Records building.
Harrison already shares a star with all four of the Beatles.
Harrison's star will be the 2,382nd on the Walk of Fame.
George Harrison
Home Town Affiliate Rejects New Show
Jay Leno
Boston's NBC affiliate says it will air a local newscast instead of Jay Leno's new 10 p.m. talk show.
The move by WHDH has prompted a threat from NBC to strip the TV station of its network affiliation.
Leno is leaving "The Tonight Show" in June, and his new prime-time program on NBC is scheduled to begin in September.
Ed Ansin, who owns WHDH's parent company, told The Boston Globe he did not believe Leno's new show would be successful. He said the station would do better financially with a news show that competes with Fox-affiliated WFXT-TV's highly rated 10 p.m. newscast.
Jay Leno
Musical Dissing
Chris Brown
A song criticizing Chris Brown is getting air play.
The song is called "My Flow So Tight" by a little-known dance group called Smoke Jumpers. It features the repeated line: "Chris Brown should get his ass kicked."
A Web site for the group hyped the song as "the official Chris Brown dis record." Radio stations in cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles and New York have recently begun playing it.
C.W. Griz, a member of the group who declined to give his real name since he expected Brown to be angered by the song, said Friday that he didn't think enough people in the music industry had spoken out against the singer.
Chris Brown
Man With An Opinion
Carlos Santana
President Barack Obama brushed off a question about legalizing marijuana in his online town hall last month, but guitar god Carlos Santana says he wishes he would seriously consider it.
"Legalize marijuana and take all that money and invest it in teachers and in education," Santana said in an interview this week. "You will see a transformation in America."
"I really believe that as soon as we legalize and decriminalize marijuana we can actually afford a really good governor who won't keep taking money away from education and from teachers and send him back to Hollywood where he can do 'D' movies and we can get an 'A' governor," referring to former movie action hero and California Gov. Arnold $chwarzenegger.
Santana made the comments as he was promoting his upcoming rock residency in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The show debuts May 27 and runs through 2010.
Carlos Santana
Opening Los Angeles Comedy Club
Jon Lovitz
Comedian Jon Lovitz and his business partner Frank Kelley will open the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club on the site that formerly housed the BB King Blues Club at Universal's CityWalk in Universal City, north of Los Angeles. Doors open May 28.
Lovitz will both perform at the 400-seat club, which will have a beach theme, and book a lineup of comedy headliners.
He also hopes to work closely with NBC's "The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien," which is relocating to the nearby Universal lot.
Jon Lovitz
Donates To NM Boys & Girls Club
Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington took time off from filming in New Mexico this week to present a $50,000 donation to the struggling Roswell Boys & Girls Club.
Washington, filming "The Book of Eli" in Albuquerque, heard through media reports that the club expected to close because of financial troubles.
The two-time Oscar winner - who's a spokesman for Boys & Girls Club of America - decided to help.
He also challenged Roswell residents to match his donation.
Denzel Washington
Effects Company Denies Leaking
'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'
An Australian visual effects company that worked on "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" said Thursday it was not responsible for leaking a full-length work print online.
The company's name - Rising Sun Pictures - appears in a caption dated March 2 a few minutes into the high-quality leaked copy of the 20th Century Fox superhero movie.
The "prequel, which focuses on the beginnings of Hugh Jackman's clawed Marvel superhero Wolverine, is not scheduled for release until May 1, but the leaked version began appearing online Tuesday evening. Fox said in a statement Wednesday that it had the original file removed, but copies quickly propagated and continue to appear on several file-sharing Web sites.
According to Rising Sun Pictures' Web site, the visual effects company had been tasked with producing "a number of key effects sequences" in "Wolverine." Rising Sun Pictures is also working on the upcoming "Terminator Salvation" film and had previously created effects for "Watchmen," "Australia," "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and "Get Smart."
'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'
Malawi Bitch Slaps
Madonna
In a surprise move, a judge on Friday rejected Madonna's request to adopt a second child from Malawi and said it would set a dangerous precedent to bend rules requiring that prospective parents live here for some period.
Madonna's lawyer, Alan Chinula, said later Friday that he has "filed notice for appeal in the Supreme Court of Appeal." He says no date was immediately set.
The country's child welfare minister had come out Thursday in support of the pop superstar's application to adopt 3-year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James.
But in a lengthy ruling Friday, Judge Esme Chombo sided with critics who have said exceptions should not be made for the star who has set up a major development project for this impoverished, AIDS-stricken southern African country.
Madonna
'Guests' Get Visit From Feds
'Dr. Phil'
A couple who went on national television to brag about making $100,000 shoplifting and selling their loot on eBay is under investigation by U.S. federal agents.
Matthew and Laura Eaton of San Marcos appeared on the "Dr. Phil" show last fall to share their story, aided by a video of their three small children accompanying them on a three-day shoplifting binge.
Last week the Secret Service and other members of the multi-agency San Diego Regional Fraud Task Force searched their home and seized toys, a car and other belongings.
The Eatons have not been arrested or charged. The couple hired a lawyer with the United Defense Group in Los Angeles to represent them, but the firm said Thursday they would not comment on the case.
'Dr. Phil'
Judge Denies Auction Delay
Michael Jackson
Hundreds of items from Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch may still go on sale after a judge on Friday rejected a bid to have the King of Pop's one-time possessions returned to the singer. But the ruling probably won't be the last word on who ends up with them.
Jackson's production company was seeking the return of the collection of art, MTV Video Music Awards, crystal-encrusted gloves and nearly 2,000 other items removed from Jackson's former home before the sale begins on April 22. They have another motion for an injunction to stop the sale, slated to be heard on April 15.
Auctioneer Darren Julien and his attorney claimed victory after the hearing, saying they do not expect other efforts to block the sale to succeed.
Jackson did not attend Friday's hearing. But his father, Joe Jackson, sat in the audience and after Klein's ruling, smiled and shuffled out of the courtroom. He declined to comment afterward.
Michael Jackson
Pleads Not Guilty
Coolio
Rapper Coolio has pleaded not guilty to drug possession and battery charges.
The 45-year-old rapper, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey, entered his plea during an arraignment in Los Angeles on Friday.
He was arrested last month at Los Angeles International Airport, and later charged with felony cocaine possession and battery and possession of drug paraphernalia, both misdemeanors. Coolio allegedly grabbed a screener's arm to prevent a search of his luggage.
The "Gangsta's Paradise" rapper remains free on bail and has been ordered to return to court on April 20.
Coolio
OMG
James Hines
James Hines was a giant - a 6-foot-7, 300-pound preacher and funk musician so big that after he died in 2004, a macabre rumor began circulating in this small town that the undertaker had to cut off his legs to fit him in the coffin.
This week, after years of whispers, Hines' body was exhumed, and the gruesome story appeared to be all too true.
The coroner's office said only that it had found "undesirable evidence," and a criminal investigation has been opened. But Hines' widow said investigators told her that his legs had been cut off between the ankle and calf, and his feet had been placed inside the casket.
Around town, Hines was an unforgettable figure, and not just because of his size. An albino black man, he performed for decades as a soul and funk guitarist.
His group, J. Hines and the Boys, never hit it big but filled clubs and auditoriums in the Southeast, and small radio stations played some of its recordings, including "Funky Funk" and "Can't Think of Nothing (Blank Mind)."
James Hines
Book of Revelation
Recipe
Police investigators say they found the recipe for making methamphetamine in an odd place: in a Bible on the last page of the Book of Revelation. Officers made discovery as they searched an apartment after arresting two people on methamphetamine possession and manufacturing charges Tuesday night. Police Lt. Ed Windbigler said the recipe was handwritten on the bottom of the page.
Because there was an active meth lab in the apartment, officers evacuated the building's other 18 residents.
It was the second time in the past six months a meth lab was discovered in the building. A meth lab exploded there in October, sending two to the hospital.
Recipe
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